By Morgan Cairns

Carmine Street Guitars

Whenever I invite a friend to take in a documentary, it usually prompts the same response. “A documentary?” they say, “aren’t documentaries… a little boring?” How is it that doc’s have come to have such a sleepy reputation? Are they not just pioneers of reality television?

Real Housewives aside, if anyone is going to change your mind on documentaries, it’s the Calgary Underground Film Festival, back this November with their sixth annual CUFF Docs film festival. With CUFF’s signature weird, wacky, and wonderful sensibilities in mind, everyone’s favourite genre-film purveyors have programmed a week’s worth of documentary films, BeatRoute has made a cheat-sheet to help you convince even your most skeptical of friends, that documentaries are, in fact, totally cool.

For the friend who was really excited about legalization: Weed the People

Who knew that weed served a purpose beyond making family get togethers slightly more tolerable? Weed the People takes marijuana out of your basement, and into research labs, exploring the benefits cannabis oils has on children with cancer, and the struggles parents have to go through to get it.

For the friend who knows all the words to Paper Planes: MATANGI / MAYA / M.I.A.

Perhaps one of the most widely anticipated music docs of the year, MATANGI / MAYA / M.I.A. follows rapper M.I.A, from her childhood as the daughter of a Tamil political activist, to the current status as a world renowned artist and activist in her own right. Drawing from the rapper’s personal video recordings (she has a degree in fine art, film, and video from Central Saint Martins), director Stephen Loveridge’s intimate doc serves to shake up the genre, just as M.I.A shook up pop when she burst onto the scene in 2007 with perpetual earworm, Paper Planes. As Spencer Kornhaber for The Atlantic states in his review of the film, “This is not a normal pop documentary, because M.I.A. [is] not a normal pop star.”[Text Wrapping Break]

For the friend obsessed with Black Mirror: People’s Republic of Desire

In China, live-streaming platform YY has turned regular, everyday people into bonafide stars, earning thousands of dollars a month in tips from fans to see them perform. Playing out like a real-life episode of Black Mirror, People’s Republic of Desire follows three people -a singer, a comedian, and a migrant worker- as they search for fame, fortune, and human connection in the surreal online world.

For the friend with questionable browser history: The Cleaners

Opening an ‘incognito window’ or switching your browser to private won’t save you from these digital scavengers. From a stray nipple to terrorist videos propaganda, The Cleaners follows those who are outsourced from Silicon Valley to remove the content from the internet that is deemed to violate “community standards.” With interviews from journalists, ethicists, and former employees of various tech companies, directors Hans Block and Moritz Riesewieck probe into the true effect these social media platforms are having on global discourse. So if you’ve ever wondered why your “tasteful nude” was removed from instagram, this might be the doc for you.

For the friend who only watches movies that pass the Bechdel Test: This Changes Everything

Inspired by the #TimesUp movement in Hollywood, This Changes Everything compiles interviews from the likes of Meryl Streep, Geena Davis, Amandla Stenberg, and other prolific actresses, writers, and directors in an effort to call out the systemic sexism that is rampant in Hollywood, as well as amplify the voices of the women working both on and off screen.

For the friend that treats their guitar like it’s their baby: Carmine Street Guitars

Operating out of Greenwich Village in New York, craftsman Rick Kelly and his apprentice make custom guitars, handcrafted out of reclaimed wood from old hotels, bars, churches and other New York buildings. With clients like Jim Jarmusch, Christine Bougie, Jamie Hince, and Bob Dylan, Carmine Street Guitars is something of a marvel in a world where gentrification takes over and mass-produced products are the norm. Featuring a slew of Kelly’s famous clientele, Carmine Street Guitars documents 5 days in the life of the small but mighty shop, and shows why you can’t beat one-of-a-kind.

CUFF Docs runs from Novemebr 28- December 2 at The Globe Cinema. For full lineup and showtimes, visit www.calgaryundergroundfilm.org.

Always genre-bending and always boundary-pushing, Quickdraw Animation Society is back with their 14th annual animation-only film fest, Giant Incandescent Resonating Animation Festival, or, GIRAF for short. Featuring the best-of-the-best of animation from around the world, as well as a heavy helping of local works, viewers can expect the newest and most innovative in the world of animation. With offerings for fans of every age and every taste, here are five of BeatRoute’s can’t-miss highlights from this year’s fest.

Visiting Artist, Amanda Strong

“Simply put, her work is amazing and utilizes stop motion animation to it’s fullest,” states Quickdraw’s Programming Director Ryan Von Hagen. Based out of Vancouver, Strong is a Michif, Indigenous filmmaker and media artist having done work for such organizations as the CBC and the National Film Board, as well as directed several short films, including “Hipster Headress”, a proclaimed “Public service announcement alert for a messed AF world” for white people who still think it’s ok to appropriate headdresses as a festival accessory. Along with a presentation of her films, Strong will also lead workshops, as well as an artist talk and installation at TRUCK Gallery.

This Magnificent Cake

Continuing with this year’s emphasis on stop-motion, This Magnificent Cake uses puppets to play out the stories of 5 different characters in colonial Africa: a troubled king, a middle-aged Pygmy working in a luxury hotel, a failed businessman on an expedition, a lost porter, and a young army deserter. Sweeping awards at festivals across the globe (including the Grand Prize for Features at the Ottawa International Film Festival) this Belgian film exemplifies the pure artistry of the genre, and animations ability to go beyond the talking-animal flicks of our youth.

Ruben Brandt, Collector

When psychologist Ruben Brandt begins to suffer from violent nightmares by legendary works of art, he begins to believe that if he were to own the artworks haunting his dreams, the nightmares will stop. He rounds up four of his clients (who happen to be expert thieves) to help him execute his plan, but as one could expect, Ruben soon becomes a wanted criminal known only as “The collector”. A sort of animated-thriller, Ruben Brandt, Collector is fast-paced and fun, while simultaneously being a stunning work of animation. “Every frame is beautifully rendered,” notes Von Hagen. And with art references aplenty, art-history buffs are sure to be giddy with all the easter eggs director Milorad Krstić has sprinkled in the film.

Alice

For this year’s retrospective film, GIRAF will be host to a 30th anniversary screening of Czech animator Jan Švankmajer’s 1988 dark stop-motion fantasy, Alice. An adaptation of Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland, Alice starts out as a live-action film, but suddenly to stop motion as soon as young Alice falls down the rabbit hole. A darker telling of the tale than the Disney version of your childhood, Alice plays out like a surreal dream, with the caterpillar (simply made up of an old sock and fake teeth) being significantly more nightmare-inducing.

Shorts Packages

With four different short’s packages to choose from, GIRAF’s shorts are perfect for every fan. Whether you’re an animation connoisseur or a curious newbie, the shorts “Mixtapes” offer up a little bit of everything and are sure to appease every taste. Our pick? The Late Night package is always a highlight, featuring some of the weirdest, darkest, and most surreal animation you’re bound to find.

GIRAF runs from November 22-25 at The Globe Cinema. For full schedule and showtimes, visit www.giraffest.ca

By David Daley

Phantom of Paradise

CALGARY – A rock opera puts the famed synthesizer TONTO (aka The Original New Timbral Orchestra) on centre stage at Studio Bell.

The Phantom of the Paradise is a cherished cult film of mammoth proportions. A big star of the film is the unique modular synthesizer TONTO,an invention by Malcolm Cecil and Robert Margouleff, which joined different types of synth technology into one machine to allow musical experimentation unlike ever before. In 2013, the National Music Centre (NMC) acquired TONTO for their working musical instrument collection and the famous synthesizer was moved to Calgary to be restored for use.

In conjunction with the Alberta Electronic Music Festival, NMC is celebrating the completion of TONTO’s restoration with TONTO week, a series of events running November 14-18 that includes which include a rare screening of the cult film that helped make TONTO famous.

The Phantom of the Paradise is many things at once: a mind-bending horror film, rock opera, tragedy, love story, comedy and a cautionary tale for us mere mortals. There’s a reason why the movie ran almost constantly for a year in Winnipeg after it first opened and has earned permanent die-hard cult status around the world: it’s a damn good film.

Legendary director Brian DePalma both wrote and directed the story, drawing from the classic tales of Faust, The Phantom of the Opera and The Picture of Dorian Grey. Rod Serling of the surreal TV show The Twilight Zone narrates an eerie introduction explaining how the music mogul Swan seeks the music to open his new rock palace “the Paradise” with: “..this film is the story of that search, of that sound, of the man who made it, the girl who sang it and the monster who stole it.”

Winslow Leach is a brilliant composer. Swan steals his masterpiece cantata and sends him to jail on false charges. Leach escapes from prison and is horribly injured and believed dead after he tries to destroy the pop-music pressings of the music swan stole from him. Things heat up when a lurking phantom kills the Paradise’s opening act “Beef” in a horrible onstage spectacle. The story get even stranger after that.

The diminutive Paul Williams (who also plays Swan in the film) wrote the music and lyrics for the soundtrack at the height of his song-writing career and each tune is quite successful on its own. Blistering rock performances by Swan’s musical incantation “The Undead” leave more than a few people chopped up afterwards. The chanteuse Phoenix sings a hauntingly beautiful love ballad after Beef is cooked alive onstage. Immediately an instant star, Phoenix is seduced by Swan which creates a love-triangle that doesn’t end well at all.

Don’t be thrown off by the movie’s campy 1970s aesthetic or apparent simplicity, this is a film lover’s film of the highest order with strong visual symbolism and a rich sub-text. It’s a dark parody and venomous critique of the star-making schemes of greedy producers and well worth seeing on the big screen. Love and death, hope and despair, doom and redemption all await the viewer in this unique rock and roll horror phantasy.

And if that wasn’t enough, TONTO week, in addition to a number of events celebrating all things synth, is rounded off with a matinee screening on Nov. 18 of I Dream of Wires, an acclaimed feature length documentary that explores the resurgence of the modular synthesizer. Trent Reznor is among the featured musicians who explain their passion for the Moog synthesizer and why its unique sound is a permanent ingredient in music today and always will be.

The Phantom of the Paradise screens at 7:00 pm on Nov. 17 at Studio Bell, and I Dream of Wires screens at 11:00 am on Nov. 18 at the King Eddy. TONTO Week runs from Nov. 14 to 18. All other TONTO Week events can be found at: www.studiobell.ca/whats-on.

by Amy Anderson

Canadian filmmaking trio Jennifer Baichwal, Nick de Pencier, and Edward Burtynsky recently completed a trilogy of films that chronicle the results of human impact upon the planet. Their most recent film, Anthropocene: The Human Epoch identifies a new era in which human influence as the most dominant factor determining the earth’s form. The three travelled the world to document some of the earth’s largest sites of industrial resource extraction. Jennifer Baichwal speaks about some of the challenges and paradoxes of documentary filmmaking in our current social context.

A: I’ve been noticing that there seems to be a formal shift in documentary film away from an emphasis on spoken language. Cinematic images are starting to take precedence, while narration becomes deliberate, minimal, or absent altogether. I emphasize spoken language because I think that cinematic images might be starting to function as their own language in these works.

JB: That’s very interesting…I’m not sure. I would say that there’s as much of a trend in the direction of straightforward, dense, narrative storylines that are character driven. In that genre of documentary, the visual language is almost always subordinate in a way that I’ve always found puzzling because film is a visual medium. One of the most important things for me from the very beginning as a filmmaker is that visual language was not subordinate to text.

Even from the very beginning, in my first film and certainly the film about Paul Bowles, we were always grappling with the relationship of how the visual language works. In The Life of Paul Bowles we had these 100 foot roles of 16mm film, and we had an SD camera and a video camera for interviews. We basically did an almost 30 hour interview with Paul Bowles over the course of 10 days. But then we carried around this suitcase of 100 foot rolls and we had hardly any money, and a very limited amount of film. So we made this pact that before we ever turned on the camera to film something we’d say “is this a Bowles-ian moment?” In the end, we used almost everything that we shot in the final film.

The connection between the text and the images weren’t necessarily about what he was saying in the interview. You would have a scene in a market where somebody is being shaved with a straight razor. It’s a banal scene but through the lens of Bowles’ prose in some way it becomes a sinister act. It was the world of his prose, the way that he described the world. There’s this tension in that and it was not directly related or corresponding [to the film footage] at all. It was the visual approach of that film. It had an organic relationship to the ethos of what that film was about, which was [Bowles’] work.

I’ve been thinking about why it is so meaningful to emphasize visual language over text. I have a notion that we often have our most influential realizations when we’re out in the world, observing. Perhaps the closest you can get to simulating that experience cinematically is to place someone in front of a powerful image and allow them to experience it quietly.

JB: Absolutely. Especially in the work that we have done with Ed Burtynsky in Manufactured Landscapes, Watermark, and Anthropocene. The idea was always to create the possibility of an experiential understanding of where you were. I believe that the possibility for a kind of transformation of self or a shift in consciousness is much more likely to happen when you’re not told what to think about something. There is a very deliberate absence of the didactic or the polemic in these films. It allows viewers to come into these places they’re responsible for or connected to, but would never normally see, and actually feel what those places are like. It’s to create something that is experiential understanding for the viewer.

During a Q&A for Anthropocene, you talked about how it was very important when you’re on location to represent your intention honestly as a filmmaker. Otherwise the outcome of your work will not be authentic either.

JB: It’s really true. From an ethical standpoint, when you’re travelling around the world for films like these in particular there’s an inherent arrogance in thinking that you have the tools or the capacity to say something meaningful about this place that you are not of. I’m always extremely mindful of the humility that is required to be able to enter these contexts. You have to be open to receiving the truth of these places in some way. I use the word truth not in an objective sense, but I think that truth is the right word. It’s a truth that comes with all the edifices of what you bring, what your subject is bringing and what is happening on that particular day of the location. All of those layers and filters are there, but it’s still possible to convey and apprehend a kind of truth of that place. It’s about relinquishing control, not writing a script, and not expecting that the place that you’re in is going to deliver a certain set of images or experiences.

From a philosophical side, there has to be some kind of authentic exchange of vulnerability that happens between the filmmaker and the subject. It’s not a trick that you can just employ so that you can get on with what you want to do. It requires a real investment and a kind of trust. I don’t mean a trust where the person says “you can do whatever you want.” I mean a trust that goes back and forth. I think that when you’re exploiting someone, you can tell. Not just is it wrong ethically, but it rings false.

A: When I was watching Anthropocene I had a reaction on two levels: I was amazed at how beautiful so many of the images of these locations were, but I was also disturbed at my aesthetic reaction to these places that were the sites of so much human destruction. It was like looking at art—

JB: It’s one of the challenges that we get. There are two main criticisms of this work in particular. One of them is that we are that not hitting the subject hard enough given the urgency of the situation. That we should be telling people what to do and that’s the only reasonable way to convey information about the state of the planet right now, given the crisis that we’re in.

I have many friends who do engage in the urgent call to action, the activist based film. There’s a place for those, they can be very powerful when they work. But they’re almost always preaching to the choir, and people who disagree with that perspective are going to turn away. Not being polemic and didactic is a way of inviting a large constituency into considering these issues in a way that connects them to these places without judging or accusing them. Because, let’s face it; every single one of us is implicated. if we look around the world there are people who live on just the tiny slivers of our footprints as we live here in North America. We’re all part of this problem. Nobody is exempt except for the people at the receiving end of the populations that both you and I are a part of, that create these problems in the world.

The other argument that we get is that we are making something aesthetically pleasing out of things that are not, and that there is a falseness in that. I would argue that compelling is a better word than beautiful. If you are drawn into an experience because it’s intriguing or compelling, it creates a space for a longer contemplation. It’s the aesthetic engagement that creates that extended reflection. Burtynsky has gotten that critique throughout his whole career, of making the ugly beautiful. I would argue that the ambiguity, the paradox at the heart of that is what makes his work so powerful. It’s something we really try to explore in the film as well. There’s mystery in all of this too. Not every story is just about rapacious destruction, it’s about the complexity of existence and the way that we, as a species, engage with and use up all of these elements in the natural world that in themselves are kind of astonishing.

Anthropocene: the Human Epoch is now screening in select Canadian theatres. A travelling museum exhibition has also premiered at the Art Gallery of Ontario and the National Gallery of Canada in Ottawa. The exhibition will then travel to MAST in Bologna in Spring 2019. For more information on Jennifer Baichwal’s work and the Anthropocene Project visit theanthropocene.org.

By Brendan Lee

Prospect – November 2

Set amidst the toxic forest of a distant moon, a teenage girl and her father search for an untapped deposit of gems that could reap riches. The only problem is they’re not alone. This sci-fi thriller won the Adam Yauch Hörnblowér Award at the 2018 SXSW Film Festival.

Widows – November 16

When four women’s husbands are murdered in the line of criminal activity, instead of crumbling in defeat, they pry back fate from cold dead hands. This icy thriller simply cannot fail, with legendary director Steve McQueen (12 Years a Slave) and award-winning author Gillian Flynn (Gone Girl) orchestrating every turn.

At Eternity’s Gate – November 16

The story of near-mythical painter Vincent Van Gogh and his struggle for recognition within a world that neither respects nor understands the beauty in his work. Willem Dafoe shines as Gogh, and director Julian Schnabel paints a painfully elegant picture.

The Ballad of Buster Scruggs – November 16

The wild and wacky Coen brothers return to the world of the Western, and do so with a sardonic splash. Told in six separate parts, prepare for the untamed wilderness of the Oregonian frontier days, and the violently hilarious people that lived them.

Green Book – November 21

This is the true story of a world class black pianist on tour and the rough and tumble Italian-American who drives him through the south. They must follow their titular green book to know which establishments will serve black people. This is a two-worlds-collide-to-make-each-other-better kind of affair from one half of the Farrelly brothers, who usually bring us comedies like Dumb and Dumber. This one grabbed the Grolsch People’s Choice Award at TIFF… which is a big deal.

By Shane Sellar

The Spy Who Dumped Me

The easiest way to tell you’re dating a spy is if they interrogate you during sex.

Sadly, the dumpee in this action-comedy won’t have a light shone in her face any longer.

Dumped by her globetrotting boyfriend (Justin Theroux), Audrey (Mila Kunis) and her friend Morgan (Kate McKinnon) go to his house to trash it but are interrupted by armed man. Now aware that he’s a spy – and in possession of a desirable flash-drive – the women fly to Europe to return the Intel. But when he goes missing the friends must then trust is his CIA partner (Sam Heughan).

Featuring some of the worst jokes ever written, yet riddled with some brilliant bursts of rapid-fire violence, this buddy-comedy is quiet the dichotomy. Nevertheless this contrast is too distracting and both leads are annoying.

Besides, who wouldn’t date a spy? You get to taste all of their meals for poison.

The Darkest Minds

Teenagers already wield the greatest superpower around: they cannot be tried as adults.

However, the special abilities the teens in this sci-fi movie have don’t vanish at 18.

When a disease wipes out most of the world’s underage population, it leaves the survivors with strange new talents that the government colour code per individual powers. But when Ruby (Amandla Stenberg) registers as an orange, her power to possess minds makes her highly sought-after by a subversive group leader (Mandy Moore). Luckily, Ruby has friends to help make the right choice.

Boasting clichéd superpowers, pointless musical montages and a love triangle that dominates the majority of the story, this adaptation of the similarly named YA novel is the last vestige of the dystopian teen genre. Unfortunately, it does little to reignite any interest in the tired concept.

Incidentally, the easiest way to defeat any super-powered teenager is by giving them mono.

Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again

There’s something about wedding receptions that makes every guy think he can breakdance. This musical demonstrates that they cause men to belt out ballads as well.

While Sophie (Amanda Seyfried) struggles to scribe a eulogy for her mother, Donna (Meryl Streep), to recite at the grand re-opening of her hotel, the 1979 version of Donna (Lily James) graduates and spends the summer with three different suitors.[Text Wrapping Break]Back in 2018 Sophie’s fathers (Colin Firth, Pierce Brosnan, Stellan Skarsgård) and her grandmother (Cher) show up to celebrate Donna’s life through ABBA songs.

Featuring the Swedish bands lesser-known hits, this time-travelling sequel to the 2008 adaptation of the Broadway musical is saved from the monotony of the present-day storyline by the 1970s cast, who freshen up the musty material. Nevertheless the male vocals remain an issue.

Incidentally, the worst thing about meeting the younger you is now you’re too fat to share any clothes.

Sorry to Bother You

Telemarketers call during dinner because most people eat alone and enjoy the company.

However, there is something more nefarious behind the interruptive calls in this comedy.

When Cash (Lakeith Stanfield) lands a telemarketing job, he struggles to get past ‘hello’ until Langston (Danny Glover) advises him to use his white-person voice (David Cross) when calling.

Soon Cash is closing deals, impressing his performance artist girlfriend (Tessa Thompson), and attracting the attention of the company CEO (Armie Hammer), who wants him to head up a new department. But the success comes at a cost when Cash learns what his employer actually sells.

A surreal and sublime satire of the current social state, this bizarre dark comedy from writer, director Boots Riley leads an all-out assault on American institutions, like, capitalism, slavery and reality TV with acerbic wit and imaginative shots.

Interestingly, when white people use their black-person voice they win Grammys.

Ant-Man and the Wasp

The easiest way to distract someone with the powers of a wasp is to spill a can of Coke.

Mind you, the insects in this sci-fi movie are too determined to be diverted by refined sugar.

On house arrest since he violated the Sokovia Accords, Scott (Paul Rudd) has been busying reconnecting with his daughter and starting a company with his friends (Michael Peña, T.I.). But when he receives a message from the quantum realm he must illegally suit up as Ant-Man and help Pym (Michael Douglas) and his daughter (Evangeline Lilly) locate their missing wife/mother.

In the same jovial vein as the original, this side-splitting sequel also adds a new dimension to the fold with Lilly’s Wasp, who not only makes an excellent foil to Ant-Man but she also amps up the action scenes.

And while Bee Woman was the first choice, she died after firing her first stinger.

Slender Man

The biggest problem with Internet urban legends is that the supernatural entities are always so judgy and mean-spirited.

Luckily, the meme monster in this horror movie doesn’t have very much to say on any topic.

When their friend (Annalise Basso) disappears, three teens (Joey King, Jaz Sinclair, Julia Goldani Telles) contact the fabled Slender Man, a featureless figure who haunts the web, for help in finding her. But during their meeting the girls make eye-contact with the gaunt giant and are cursed with madness. The only way to stop him now is to give him want he desires.

Inspired by the real-life legend that has claimed some real victims, this fictional account ignores reality opting for a more Bloody Mary vibe. Unfortunately, the scares are cheap, the acting amateurish and the overall execution is ham-fisted.

Besides, just like every scam on the Internet, Slender Man is really a Russian hacker.

Sicario: Day of the Soldado

To solve America’s issues with Mexico the cartels should build a border wall out of cocaine bricks.

Instead, the Defense Department in this action-thriller has vowed to eradicate trafficking.

When suicide bombers detonate in Middle America, the Secretary of Defense (Matthew Modine) suspects the Mexican drug cartels were involved in getting them across the border. In retaliation he gives CIA operative Graver (Josh Brolin) carte blanche to start a war between the cartels by kidnapping the daughter of a kingpin. Graves hires a cold-blooded assassin (Benicio del Toro) to do the dirty work.

Lacking the moral center and unexpected twists and turns of the first Sicario, Day of the Soldado is a leaner, meaner, more action-heavy sequel that seems to revel in killing Mexicans. While both performances are gritty, the story is fear driven and hateful.

And while pitting cartels against each other can be risky, it worked in NAFTA.

Hotel Artemis

When staying at a hotel for criminals it’s important not to give your car keys to the valet.

Fortunately, the guests in this action movie can easily steal another ride.

As L.A. residents riot over drinking water restrictions, two brothers Sherman (Sterling K. Brown) and Lev (Brian Tyree Henry) rob a bank where Lev ends up getting shot. To save him, Sherman goes to a nurse (Jodie Foster) who provides medical attention to felons from inside a fortified hotel.

But can those defenses keep The Wolf-King (Jeff Goldblum) from reclaiming the prize that Sherman stole from him during the heist?

Set in the near future for no real reason, this ensemble has the star power but the immoral characters they play are clichéd. And while the dialogue tries to sound slick it ends up as flat as the action.

Incidentally, criminals make the best patients because they never sue for malpractice.

Skyscraper

The worst thing about working in the world’s tallest building are the nosebleeds that last 8-hours.

Ironically, the hero in this action movie is bleeding from everywhere other than his nose.

Working security since losing his legs in a bombing, former FBI agent Will (Dwayne Johnson) applies his tactical knowledge to accessing the safety of a 225 stories tall building. But when a blaze erupts Will’s blamed and hunted by police. Inside the towering inferno terrorists are holding Will’s wife (Nev Campbell) hostage until he hands over a hard drive containing incriminating evidence.

A blatant rip-off of superior hostage/disaster movies before it, this green screen laden imitator is incapable of contributing anything new to either genre. And while having an amputee protagonist is admirable, using their disability as a gimmick or a punch line is not.

Worse, when the elevators breakdown workers inside have to descend the world’s tallest staircase.

Unfriended: Dark Web

The dark web is just another feature for your Internet provider to exploit monetarily.

Fortunately, the users in this thriller don’t need a bundle deal to surf the dark net.

After accessing a computer he found at work to Skype with his friend, Matias (Colin Woodell) receives a message from someone concerning a disturbing video. He later learns the previous owner of the laptop was not only in to some nefarious online activities, but is also watching his every move. Now the mysterious owner is offing Matias’ friends in an attempt to get their property back.

Told entirely through laptop and cellphone cameras this stand-alone sequel is a slight step-up from its predecessor thanks to its topical storyline. Unfortunately, it squanders the secrets of the dark web by focusing on toothless jump scares instead. And the moral of the story is to never use a found laptop, just pawn it.

Eighth Grade

Eighth grade is that time in a young person’s life when they start experimenting with drugs that aren’t prescribed for their ADHD.

Mind you, the only high the teenager in this dramedy is looking for is the rush of getting Instagram likes.

Soft-spoken Kayla (Elsie Fisher) hopes her Youtube tutorials on self-confidence will garner a following beyond her single-father (Josh Hamilton). But as the end of the school year approaches Kayla’s popularity on and offline is at an all time low. Excited about high school, she starts hanging out with older kids and experimenting with sex, all in an effort to breakout of her introverted shell.

The most authentic depiction of the tribulations facing today’s iGen to date, this awkwardly hilarious and aptly directed coming-of-age tale perfectly captures adolescent dialogue, while newcomer Fisher brings empathy to her generation’s anxieties.

By Glenn Alderson

The legacy of Queen and Freddie Mercury is one that’s been relatively undocumented on the silver screen up until now. It seems strange that it’s taken so long, given the band’s impressive footprint and history of success but the proper 2018 biopic that we now know as Bohemian Rhapsody has been a long time in the making for many reasons.

From its initial announcement in 2010 (remember when Sacha Baron Cohen was announced to be playing the part of Mercury?) to now, the film has seen so many line-up changes you’d think 20th Century Fox was actually a band trying to find their place on the rocky road to success. With the initial firing of director Bryan Singer and rumors that even Daniel Radcliffe would be taking the lead at one point; all of the unprecedented rumors and casting changes only added to the excitement. All the drama aside, the final lineup starring an impressive Rami Malek (Mr. Robot) as Mercury finds a way to channel a greatest hits celebration while touching on the life and times of the band who collectively helped the enigmatic frontman shine.

At times the film’s restrained portrayal of Mercury’s sexuality does seem unnervingly conservative and even homophobic at times, with the only real “villain” painted in their story being his queer manager, Paul Prenter (Allen Leech). The amount of pandering done to make the film accessible to a conservative audience is palpable yet Bohemian Rhapsody still manages to retain heart and doesn’t get too lost in the “in between moments” as Mercury refers to them at one point in the film.

Mercury (born Farrokh Bulsara) was as enigmatic as he was misunderstood and the story this biopic tells is as much of a tragedy as it is a heroic rock ‘n’ roll tale of emotional fury. While it does take on the darker dramatic elements with its portrayal of Mercury’s battle with HIV, for the most part the film sticks to a cookie cutter formula of a rah-rah biopic and cuts straight to the goods, which is fine since the actual lives of Queen outside of Queen really weren’t all that exciting.

Bohemian Rhapsody starts and ends with the band’s most iconic performance of their career, 1985 Live Aid at Wembley Stadium, arguably the biggest concert in rock ‘n’ roll history. Queen took the stage and changed music with their 20-minute set so it’s exciting to see the fan-fare recreated so fantastically.

While the band members (Gwilym Lee as Brian May, Ben Hardy as Roger Taylor and Joseph Mazzello as John Deacon) are properly represented and given the respect they deserve, the crowning moments of the film are ultimately focused on Mercury, which really wouldn’t have shined nearly as bright without the talent of Malik’s goofy yet accurate portrayal.

The brightest moments of the film shine in the performances and they are shot exceptionally well. And with the band’s Live Aid performance bookending the movie, it makes the final scene play out like the ultimate encore. Recreating the magic of such a monumental event makes the movie worth watching, even if your knowledge of Queen only extends to Wayne’s World or foot-stomping and hand-clapping along to “We Will Rock You” at hockey games. In the end, Bohemian Rhapsody is a fun rock ‘n’ roll drama complete with all the hits and even a surprising and totally unexpected cameo from Mike Myers (look closely!). It’s probably best that Sacha Baron Cohen left things be in Queen-land as well so he could move on to trolling conservative America while Malik stood under the bright spotlight to pay homage to one of the greatest performers and vocal artists who ever lived.

by Shelby Gray

Agnès Varda (right) with Corinne Marchand on the set of Cléo from 5 to 7 (1962)

Coffee + cinema with a left bank legend

CALGARY – A pioneer of French New Wave cinema, Agnès Varda has had a prolific career. Emerging from the left banks of Paris in the 1950’s, Varda and her contemporaries (Jean Luc Goddard, FrançoisTruffaut, Alain Renais etc.) were interested in deviating from the norm of the cinema conventions of the time, sculpting a style that would be imitated and revered by every young director to follow. Varda crafts somewhat banal vignettes of everyday life that prompt the viewer to piece together a bigger narrative, and to ask ourselves questions about our own mortality, happiness, love and freedom.

This month at Coffee + Cinema movie night at the Roasterie in Kensington, EspressoKino is highlighting the french auteur with five of her best-known works: La Point Courte (1955), Cléo from 5 to 7 (1962), Happiness (1966), One Sings the Other Doesn’t (1977) and Vagabond (1985). Varda’s first feature film, La Pointe Courte, was released in 1955 at only 25 years old. Set in a small seaside fishing town, La Pointe Courte depicts the struggle of the town to maintain their fishing export despite a bacterium in the water surrounding the town, and a young couple who is struggling to maintain happiness within their relationship. It is the relationship between the young couple that proves to be the most captivating aspect of the film, especially Varda’s blocking techniques between Lui (Philippe Noiret) and Elle (Silvia Monfort). These existential conversations about happiness, love and mortality are a common theme to Agnès Vardas filmography and one that continues in her following, and arguably most famous, film Cléo from 5 to 7.

Cléo from 5 to 7 begins as a melodramatic depiction of a seemingly vain, superficial singer Cléo (Corinne Marchand) who is dreading medical test results. The film takes the viewer through two hours of the singer’s life, and the different people she encounters while she contemplates her mortality. Initially melodramatic the film ends up being a sincere account of Cléo’s hypochondria and genuine human themes that everyone faces.

Happiness (1965), a film released towards the end of the New Wave movement, is the third screening of the series and is aptly named. The film starring Jean-Claude Drouot, Marie-France Boyer, illustrates Francois’s (Jean-Claude Drouout) happy family life and how another love interest can affect it.

Agnès Varda on the set of La Pointe Courte (1954)

Taking a notably more political direction, One Sings the Other Doesn’t (1977) is set against the backdrop of the 1970’s Women’s Movement. This film depicts two friends Pomme (Valérie Mairesse) and Suzanne (Thérèse Liotard) and the progression of their friendship while dealing with dramatic ups and downs in their separate lives.

For their last Agnès Varda feature, Espresso Kino will be showing her 1985 film Vagabond. Initially playing like a road trip film Vagabond portrays Mona (Sandrine Bonnaire) a young hitchhiker who is found dead in a ditch. Varda gives the viewer an account of the young women’s life and the decisions that lead her to her untimely death. Using interviews and flashbacks of the people that Mona interacts with the we are forced to use the judgements of others in order to inform our opinions of her. Vagabond gives the viewer a rare look at a woman so independent as to hitchhike alone, a “freedom” that most women aren’t allowed.

The films of Agnès Varda are both relatable and magical, it is the beauty of everyday life that interests Varda and has given her so much success over her impressively long career. EspressoKino’s month long journey of her cinema has something for everyone and are presented in the way they’re meant to be seen: communally, and with coffee.

EspressoKino occurs every Thursday at 9pm at The Roasterie. For screening dates, visit www.espressokino.ca

By Breanna Whipple

CALGARY – When it came time to select a theme for the month of October, I will admit I had assumed it’d be a cakewalk. With the Halloween (2018) revival only a mere few weeks from release, I toyed with the idea of covering that franchise in its entirety. It dawned on me that you’re all likely familiar with the lore of Michael Myers… I mean, you’ve had 40 years, there are no excuses at this point! Anyway, moving forward, I considered compiling a list of Halloween-centric horror films that were appropriate, yet stale. Then it dawned on me, despite being a horror fan throughout my entire life, what always made October special to me was the influx of fun films floating about. Colourful, outlandish tales of every kind of monster you could imagine. Films that make perfect companions to costume parties – nothing too heavy, just gloriously rad cinema. This is the spirit of Halloween to me, and here lies a lineup of films that perfectly summate it.

Killer Klowns from Outer Space (1988)

Leave every preconceived notion you’ve gathered about creepy clowns by the wayside. Bathed in ’80s neon and sporting weaponry including popcorn guns that wrap their victims in cocoons of cotton candy, the Killer Klowns from Outer Space are so outlandishly insane that is hard to believe they exist in the world of horror. Digging past the comedic kills and boisterous cinematography, there is something incredibly sinister about these morbidly cute alien creatures.

TerrorVision(1986)

Another movie so unbelievably over-the-top is TerrorVision, a horror/comedy focused heavily on the latter. Functioning as an exception of my general dislike of comedy driven horror, it functions well in this instance due to caricature-like characters. Not only are the visuals bathed in post-modern aesthetics and gorgeous technicolor, it covers all the various facets of excessive ’80s culture. Garbage aliens, leather-clad headbangers, disco-swingers, patriotic warmongers… They’re all here waiting for you!

Frankenhooker(1990)

It would be a cardinal sin to compile a list featuring this sort of weirdo, schlocky content without mentioning a film taken from Frank Henenlotter’s catalogue. Frankenhookeris exactly what it sounds like – an undead monster hooker stitched together by the most desirable, discarded limbs taken from a mass of slain prostitutes. Like the aforementioned entry in this list, the characters often feel a little cartoony, allowing for a very comic-book like atmosphere throughout the entrancing 85 minute runtime.

Leprechaun 3 (1995)

I’m a sucker for films situated in Las Vegas, and Leprechaun 3 is by no means an exception. Not only is this my favourite instalment in what I consider to be the most underrated horror franchise of all time, I’m going to go a step further – it is one of all-time favourite films. You have an evil leprechaun with an endless supply of powers, stalking the glittering streets of mid-90s Vegas in search of his gold. He gambles, he sleazes, he even bumps into ‘Elvis’ – what more could you want in the world of fun horror?

By Breanna Whipple

CALGARY – “You got demons!” A bespectacled young rocker by the name of Terry exclaims to his friend, Glen, while hovering at the entrance of a treacherous pit in Glen’s backyard left from a tree excavation. Drawing this conclusion after a string of nightmarish events and with a personal fondness for a heavy metal band infamous for releasing an album containing rituals rumoured to open the gates of Hell, Terry’s rationale seems justified in the minds of the young. With Glen’s parents missing-in-action leaving only his sister in charge, it is solely the youthful mind through which this tale plays out.

Panned by some critics for being too much of a ‘Stephen King copycat’, this can likely be dismissed by a simple misunderstanding of what ‘coming-of-age’ horror truly is. Undoubtedly true that King is the master among all contributors, he, however, is not the sole proprietor. Affection for films like Monster Squad (1987), Gremlins (1984) and later television series such as Goosebumps (1995-1998) can be ignited by the exuberant imagination harnessed by children and the lack of skepticism in regards to monsters and the paranormal.

Modernizing this notion, it seems very likely that The Gate could be cited as a front-running influence for Netflix’s largely popular television program, Stranger Things. Sharing similarities in both characterization, bizarre creatures and metaphysical gates leading to unknown dimensions, a great emphasis is placed on child-based casts between both parties.

Though capable of tying this cinematic tale to the aforementioned examples, the story of The Gate feels deeply personal and drenched in realism despite its enchanting, imaginative surface. Attention to detail was seemingly of great importance to the writer, Michael Nankin, who has stated that several elements of the story stemmed from his very own childhood fears.

Despite being comfortably classifiable as family-friendly horror, The Gate doesn’t completely abandon the R-rating it was initially penned for. With a story centred around occult ritual, coupled with a generous dash of gratuitous gore, tonally this film is much darker than several of its counterparts. Bear in mind, the timing of release just so happened to be in the heightened peak of mainstream media’s ‘Satanic Panic’, in which subjects such as horror films and heavy metal were deemed unsafe for consumption.

The Gate took both forbidden fruits, combining them into a marvelous concoction. Arriving well before the heavy metal horror craze spanning from the late ’80s to early ’90s, it remains vastly unnoticed. Though appealing to headbangers all over the globe, it must be noted that several easter eggs hidden within the 85 minute runtime cater exclusively to Canadian rockers. Beginning with the Killer Dwarfs’back patch that Terry boasts throughout the picture, extending to the title font of fictitious band ‘Sacrifyx’ being strikingly similar to Canadian thrash act’s, Sacrifice. These details may seem minor to some, however both Canadian metal and horror have been criminally underrated on a global level. To see both enshrined within a cinematic time capsule is crucial in applauding our historical alternative culture.

By Maddy Cristall

Photo by Tenzing Lama

Orpheum Theatre
Tuesday, October 9 2018

Photo by Tenzing Lama

To witness any Wu-Tang member performing live is a special experience. To see the RZA live score over the film that greatly inspired one of the best hip-hop albums ever made is life changing. RZA is an award winning filmmaker, author, actor, rapper and leader on the legendary Wu-Tang Clan. As part of the Vancouver International Film Festival (VIFF) RZA performed a live orchestration in front of the 1978 Hong Kongese Lau Kar-leung’s The 36th Chamber of Shaolin. This film inspired Wu Tang Clan’s debut album in 1993 Enter the Wu Tang- 36 Chambers. RZA dropped beats from the classic Wu-Tang catalog throughout the entire movie followed by an insightful Q and A.

Photo by Tenzing Lama

The film itself is fascinating, it involves impressive martial arts and an inspiring story arc. It’s a Kung Fu classic and deeply galvanized RZA who happens to be quite the film buff. Simply watching the movie as part of a film festival at the beautiful Orpheum Theatre could have sufficed perfectly as a great night on the town. Watching the movie whilst the living icon performed the score with impeccable sound quality is transformative. The audience ate popcorn in velvet plush seats while listening to the masterful track “Can It Be All So Simple” during a particularly cinematically striking scene. It was difficult to know exactly where to look during this exceptional and multi-faceted performance. It was a carnival for the senses and a reminder of how creative one can truly be. In the words of Wu-Tang Clan “peace is the absence of confusion,” the audience was ubiquitously peaceful on this incredible evening.

By Peter Hemminger

So beautiful and so dangerous!

CALGARY – Following up on last year’s screening of Ralph Bakshi’s classic oddity Wizards, CJSW’s The Nocturntable, Twinbat Sticker Co. and the Quickdraw Animation Society are excited to team up again to bring another cartoon epic to the funding drive. This time around, they’ll be showing the animated anthology Heavy Metal (1981), with all proceeds going to support the campus and community radio station.

When Heavy Metal magazine launched in 1977, it was like nothing North American audiences had ever seen. Bringing some of the biggest names in European comics and fantasy art to the USA, it helped to popularize a strain of stylish, sexed-up science fiction and fantasy that turned the pulp sagas of Edgar Rice Burroughs up to 11.

It was only natural that a cult magazine would spawn a cult film, and within a year of its launch, production had already started on an animated adaptation of Heavy Metal magazine. Like the print version, Heavy Metal is an anthology, stitching together horror, fantasy and sci-fi segments with the thinnest thread of overarching narrative. It’s technically tracking the evolution of an evil orb called the Loc-Nar, but it’s mostly an excuse to let loose a few teams of talented animators, pair them with a killer voice cast that includes half the cast of SCTV, and have them conjure the most over-the-top adolescent fantasies they can imagine.

There’s no question that Heavy Metal is a bit dated. It’s basically airbrushed van art brought to life, with all the swords, babes and machismo that implies. But it’s also a fantastically fun collection of adult animation, a feast of non-stop imagination that refuses to take itself too seriously. Add an absolutely killer soundtrack featuring contributions from everyone from Devo and Donald Fagen to Sabbath and Stevie Nicks, and you have the definition of a cult classic.

CALGARY-Start your month with an erotic drama, take in some French sci-fi romance, and end with a spooky Halloween flick or two (or three, or four…) Here are BeatRoute’s five films to see this October.

Women in Love

The first screening of Calgary Cinematheque’s 2018/19 season, Women in Love is the 1969 British romantic drama of two couples in love, whose relationships end up going in very different directions. Set in a post-World War I mining town, this sexually-charged film follows the quartet’s highs and lows through director Ken Russell’s lush and highly stylized lens. A selction of Cinematheque’s “Masters” focus on Russell, Women in Love is one of the director’s most iconic films, and even nabbed Glenda Jackson a Best Actress award at the 1971 Oscars.

Calgary Cinematheque presents Women in Love at the Plaza Theatre on Thursday, October 18th at 6:30 pm

The Secret Path

An adaptation of Gord Downie’s final album and Jeff Lemire’s accompanying graphic novel of the same name, The Secret Path animates the true story of Chanie Wenjack who in 1966, escaped from Cecilia Jeffrey Indian Residential School in attempts to return to his home on the Marten Falls Reserve, 600 km away. I won’t delude you, the story has a heartbreaking and tragic ending, but Chanie’s story is known for drawing attention to the mistreatment of children in Canadian Indian Residential School System, and prompted an inquest into the matter by the Canadian Government. Co-presented by The Spirit Fund and The Calgary Underground Film Festival, admission for the event will be by donation, with all proceeds going to Downie Wenjack Fund, whose mission is to “continue the conversation that began with Chanie Wenjack’s residential school story, and to support the reconciliation process through awareness, education, and action.”

The Secret Path screens at the Globe Cinema on Thursday, October 18th at 7:00 pm

Je t’aime, je t’aime

The final instalment of Espressokino’s month-long program on Left Bank filmmaker, Alain Resnais, Je t’aime, je t’aime (I love you, I love you) marks the directors first venture into the realm of science fiction. While leaving the hospital after a failed suicide attempt, Claude Ridder (Claude Rich) is approached by the Crespel Research Center and recruited for their time travel experiments. Having only been tested on mice in the past, Claude is the experiment’s first human subject. The experiment only intends to send Claude back one year into his past for only one minute, but the experiment quickly goes wrong and Claude is stuck in an endless loop of his memories.

Espressokino presents Je t’aime, je t’aime at The Roasterie on Thursday, October 25th at 8:00 pm

Hell Fest

It wouldn’t be Halloween without The Calgary Underground Film Festival’s annual Halloween Horror Movie Marathon, and kicking off the 12 hours of festivities is the new slasher flick, Hell Fest. Hell Fest is a travelling carnival that makes it’s way across the country during the Halloween season. When a trio of young women, and their respective boyfriends, make the trip to the ghoulish carnival, their innocent night out is soon turned into a bloody nightmare as a serial killer (known as “The Other”) begins to terrorize the park. The first film of the evening, if you can make through Gregory Plotkin’s carnival of gore, stick around for other horror classics, including Christine (1983), Murder Party (2007), High Tension (2003), Graduation Day (1981), House of 1000 Corpses (2003), and Drag Me to Hell (2009); with a free breakfast for all horror fanatics who make it to 7:00 am.

Hell Fest screens as part of the Calgary Underground Film Festival’s 12 Hour Halloween Horror Movie Marathon at the Globe Cinema on Saturday, October 27th at 7:00 pm

Abbot and Costello Meet Frankenstein

The first of several films where famed the famed comedy duo meet classic movie monsters, Abbot and Costello play railway baggage clerks who, upon delivering a shipment to local wax museum McDougal’s House Of Horrors, discover the crates contain the remains of Dracula and Frankenstein. Add a werewolf to the mix, and the comedians are thrown into a wild night as they are pursued by the three monsters in Dracula’s castle. Even horror icon Vincent Price makes an uncredited cameo as Invisible Man, eager to take part in all the excitement.

Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein screens at Fort Calgary on Friday, October 26th at 6:30 pm

After deserting the Imperial army, wayward orphan Han Solo (Alden Ehrenreich) cuts his criminal teeth on train robbing with a band of outlaws (Woody Harrelson, Thandie Newton, Jon Favreau). But when a job goes sideways, Han’s indebted to a crime boss (Paul Bettany) and must repay him by working with a smuggler (Donald Glover), a Wookie and an old flame (Emilia Clarke) to steal a supply of hyperspace fuel.

The long-awaited origin of the softhearted scoundrel, this standalone prequel falls short of expectations. While the tedious tale is littered with endless nods to the character the actor portraying the lovable ruffian looks and sounds nothing like Han Solo.

Incidentally, the key to smuggling in space is only swallowing NASA approved condoms.

The First Purge

The first offense you should commit after the government legalizes all crime is marrying your cousin.

Sadly, the participants in this horror movie have chosen acts of hate over forbidden love.

When a right-wing party seizes control of the US government they implement a social experiment wherein they will decriminalize crime for a 12-hour period on Staten Island. To get volunteers to remain on the island, the doctor (Marisa Tomei) running the trial offers the underprivileged residents $5,000 to participate in the inaugural event. However, local drug dealers use the pilot project to wage a turf war.

A mean-spirited prequel that takes it self too seriously, this fourth installment in the speculative franchise is too on the nose with its analogy of modern America. Less horror and more forewarning this origin story is heavy-handed and biased.

Furthermore, without any police on duty you’re likely to see a decrease in crime.

Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom

The big difference between a Disney and a Jurassic theme park is that the workers inside of the dinosaur mascots were eaten.

An active volcano, like the one in this sci-fi movie, would be another disparity between the parks.

Three years after Jurassic World was abandoned to its reptilian inhabitants a volcanic eruption threatens to wipeout the cloned species unless Claire (Bryce Dallas Howard), the previous operations manager, and Owen (Chris Pratt), a Raptor wrangler, can save them from extinction. However, the solution to move the creatures to a private sanctuary may not be in the beasts’ best interest either.

While the visuals continue to dominate in this obligatory sequel to the blockbuster reboot of the franchise, Fallen Kingdom falters when it comes to telling a compelling or innovative story to accompany those eye-popping effects.

Moreover, the only way to ever gain control over dinosaurs is to clone Fred Flintstone.

Uncle Drew

Geriatric athletes are popular these days because they physically cannot take a knee during the anthem.

Mind you, the old-timers in this comedy can not only take a knee but also slam-dunk.

Determined to prove his coaching prowess to his rival (Nick Kroll) by winning a street-ball tournament, Dax (Lil Rel Howery) recruits local legend Uncle Drew (Kyrie Irving) to play for his team.

But the elderly baller won’t hit the court unless it’s with his equally aged teammates (Shaquille O’Neal, Chris Webber, Reggie Miller, Nate Robinson), whom Dax must now get game ready to face the younger teams.

Based on a Pepsi advertisement, this feature-length comedy is devoid of laughs. While it is exciting to see these NBA players in action, watching them do so in a grey wigs and face prosthetics is just creepy.

Furthermore, who wants to go watch their sports team play at the Depends arena?

Heats Beat Loud

The upside to having your father in your band is that he is fully aware of your heroin addiction.

Thankfully, the only thing holding back the duo in this dramedy is higher education.

Widower Frank (Nick Offerman) deals with the idea of his daughter Sam (Kiersey Clemons) going away to college by starting a garage band with her over the summer. While she is hesitant to get distracted from her studies, her girlfriend (Sasha Lane) convinces Sam to record a song with her dad, which, in turn, becomes a minor hit. Now, Sam’s college dreams are overshadowed by this new opportunity.

While the song recording process captured does serve as an excellent how-to for up-and-coming musicians, the actual songs featured are hardly hit material. However, the characters are real and their relationships relatable.

Plus, when your dad is in your band he can help repair the hotel rooms you trash.

Ocean’s 8

Female thieves are so successful because they have more body cavities to conceal stuff in.

The ladies in this comedy, however, are bold enough to wear their ill-gotten gains openly.

Wasting no time after her release from prison, convicted crook – and sister to Danny Ocean – Debbie (Sandra Bullock) and her cohort (Cate Blanchett) hatch a plan to pilfer a priceless necklace from the Met Gala.

But Debbie will require a crew of thieves, hackers and counterfeiters (Mindy Kaling, Sarah Paulson, Rihanna, Awkwafina) as well as an unwitting actress (Anne Hathaway) to execute her elaborate swindle.

Although it’s loaded with a stellar cast that exudes chemistry, this all-female spin-off of the Ocean’s 11 franchise comes off as a gimmick that doesn’t have a satisfying enough script to make it memorable or revolutionary.

Oddly, women never seem to take issue with the disparity between sexes when it comes to sentencing.

Superfly

The key to being a successful drug dealer is getting your degree and working for big pharma.

Unfortunately, the peddler in this action movie couldn’t afford the respectable way to the top.

In retaliation for a drive-by, local gang Snow Patrol alerts corrupt cops to drug dealer Priest’s (Trevor Jackson) activities, and they soon want a cut of his proceeds. Looking for a way out for him and his girlfriends, Priest turns to his mentor (Michael Kenneth Williams) and his Mexican cartel connection for help in blackmailing the mayor of Atlanta (Big Boi).

A stylish remake of the groundbreaking 1972 Blaxploitation film, this update doesn’t add to the mystique of Youngblood Priest. It only serves to distract from the original’s social commentary and legendary soundtrack with flashy gunfights, expensive car chases and low-end cinematography.

Moreover, the best way to get rid of your competition is to give them free fentanyl.

Won’t You Be My Neighbor?

The reason Mister Rogers wanted to be everyone’s neighbour was so he could borrow endless amounts of sugar.

Unfortunately, this documentary doesn’t divulge whether or not Rogers was diabetic.

Fred Rogers was distracted from his dream of joining the priesthood by television. Fascinated by the new medium’s teaching capabilities, the soft-spoken and genial Rogers worked his way up the children’s TV show ladder until he received his own show.

By addressing current social issues via puppets living within a fictional kingdom, Rogers was able to reach young minds and help them become special individuals.

Through archival photos and videos of Rogers’ early work as well as interviews with his co-workers and family members, this exploration of the entertainer is as good-natured as he was. While it tackles controversies and myths, this biography doesn’t dwell on them.

As for his sweater obsession, Mister Rogers couldn’t afford heat on a PBS salary.

Adrift

The best reason to own a yacht is so that you will be able to escape your creditors.

Fortunately, the couple in this drama won’t have to worry about running in to repo-men.

Just a short while after first meeting in Tahiti, Tami Oldham (Shailene Woodley) and her new seafaring beau Richard Sharp (Sam Claflin) agree to sail his friend’s 44-foot sailboat to San Diego.

Midway through their voyage however the couple encounters a hurricane that not incapacitates Richard and the vessel but also veers it off course. Now it’s up to Tami to steer them back home.

Loosely based on actual events from 1983, this well-acted and stunningly shot retelling tampers with hard facts to create a cloying narrative that’s more interested in romance than survival. Controversial to be sure, the ending weakens Oldham’s real achievement.

Incidentally, when lost at sea just start harpooning whales until Greenpeace shows up.

Hereditary

If it weren’t for the physical traits we inherit from our parents plastic surgeons would be out of work.

However, that which is intrinsic in this horror movie cannot be resculpted.

Shortly after her mother’s funeral, Annie (Toni Collette) loses her daughter in an accident caused by her son Peter (Alex Wolff). While the father (Gabriel Byrne) tries to keep the family from imploding, Annie holds séances to reach her deceased offspring and Peter self-harms to cope with the guilt.

But over time the grandmother’s shadowy past begins to shed light on the family’s current turmoil.

While it starts off with some strong performances, inventive camera work and shocking imagery, things quickly go down hill from there: the pace slows to a crawl, the acting curdles and the plot becomes incoherent, bordering on comical.

Lastly, even if insanity doesn’t run in your family, they can still give it to you.

Ghost Stories

The best way to tell a ghost story is around a campfire with flashlights in broad daylight.

However, light sources of any kind are few and far between in this horror movie.

As the host of a skeptical television program about the paranormal, Phillip (Andy Nyman) has spent his life debunking the supernatural. But when he meets his childhood idol, Phillip is presented with three uncanny cases that not even his mentor could demystify.

As he interviews the subjects (Martin Freeman, Alex Lawther, Paul Whitehouse) Phillip uncovers a hidden connection to his own past that has haunted him in to adulthood.

While the three stories contained within this British anthology based on a stage play vary in their degree of terror, the overarching narrative that they all feed into does provide the most shocking moment of the movie.

Sadly, nowadays ghost stories have been replaced by the 24-hour news cycle.

Controversial auteur Lars Von Trier has made a career out of shocking and offending people by not caring one iota what they think of him or his work. When you’re known for making projects such as Dancer in the Dark, Dogville, Manderlay, Antichrist and Nymphomaniac Vol. I & II, that only makes sense.

Suspension of disbelief is oftentimes something used in storytelling, and with good reason. Both The Lobster and Swiss Army Man are examples of utterly bonkers dramedies that you either buy into the world within the first five minutes, or you simply don’t for its entirety. Von Trier’s latest cinematic experiment perfectly falls into this category of “The Absurdist Rule”. The House That Jack Built is a Von Trier movie through and through. Fans of his past work should definitely be right in line for this, while haters will probably have nothing good to say about it in any way, shape or form.

Jack/Mr. Sophistication (Matt Dillon) recaps his life over the course of twelve years as a serial killer through five different numbered incidents and an insane epilogue to button the whole affair. Said “incidents” just so happen to be Jack brutally murdering women and children for the fun of it, simply because he can. The film is unapologetically offensive and boundary-pushing, as Jack continues his quest to kill whomever he pleases. Based off the above statements, it certainly doesn’t sound like it, but the film is darkly funny with its utterly pitch black sense of humour taking centre stage.

Early on in his career of casual murder, Jack is more concerned about his OCD tendencies, than he is actual human life. Watching Dillon repeatedly go back into the same house multiple different times after murdering a woman, so as to check every single part of the living room for where blood might possibly be, but clearly isn’t, is unquestionably a comedic highpoint in the film.

Every single character acts like a complete idiot other than Jack, which is the joke that Trier cleverly lampshades here. Much of what works about the film is Dillon himself. Jack is hands down both his best role and best performance in over a decade. His performance is at once bizarre and magnetic. It’ll make you wonder why he hasn’t been a bigger star in recent years, because he’s just so good at it.

Only a director like Von Trier would be so brazen to have a scene in his latest movie where he uses Dillon as a mouthpiece to defend his own artistic choices in his filmography. At a certain point, Jack monologues about what is clearly considered misunderstood art, all the while a montage of shocking scenes from Von Trier’s previous films flash by onscreen at the exact same time. Yes, that did indeed happen, and it was truly a glorious sight to behold.

The House That Jack Built is unapologetically Lars Von Trier at his most Lars Von Trier. Take that for what you will.

High school is a hard time for anyone, but it’s especially difficult for Cameron (Chloe Grace Moretz). Growing up in the 90s, she’s had to keep her sexual orientation a secret from both her friends and family for her entire life. After getting caught with her girlfriend on prom night, Cameron is sent to a gay conversation therapy camp by her guardians, in the narrow-minded hope that one day she’ll be cured of all her ugly sin. Which as ridiculous as it sounds is all the more awful when you realize that even though this subject matter is based on a book, it’s also something that happens in real life.

The Miseducation of Cameron Post documents her frustrating and wholly misguided time at God’s Promise. Jocular Reverend Rick (John Gallagher Jr.) and his icy sister Dr. Lydia Marsh (Jennifer Ehle) run the camp with a bone-chilling false-niceness that gets immediately under the skin from the very get-go. The authoritarian sibling duo are not outwardly or physically aggressive upon first blush, because they don’t need to be.

It’s the passive aggressive guilt-tripping that the siblings are so good at performing that makes them the most effective kind of abusive villains. So as to try and help get through the utter garbage that is this experience, Cameron bonds with fellow burnouts Jane (Sasha Lane) and Adam (Forest Goodluck) by taking camp approved “gender-neutral hikes”. In newfound friendship solidarity, the trio smoke weed in the woods via protest. Some of the best scenes in the film are these small but powerful character moments.

As the titular role of Cameron, Moretz shines throughout. Her performance is real, honest, genuine and completely raw. She carries the film squarely on her shoulders, and for good reason. She’s always had some serious acting chops from when she first burst onto the screen as the pint-sized, foul-mouthed killing machine Hit-Girl in 2010’s Kick-Ass. While her breakout comic book role is easily her most well-known, it’s her performance here as Cameron that’s hands down one of her best.

Co-writer/director Desiree Akhavan skilfully tells the story with a maturity and a mastery of control and understanding. The film is perfectly paced, funny when the audience needs a laugh, and downright blood-boiling when both you and the heroes are entirely helpless to do anything about their current situation. The film will undoubtedly make you fume with anger as its supposed to. This one will really truly hit home.

Simply put, it’s a very difficult film to watch, but it’s also one that’s important to experience and be talked about in broader circles, because representation truly does matter. Some movies are made to be purely fun escapism, which can sometimes be rather forgettable. Then there are others that have something meaningful to say with a point to get across, no matter how harsh, which you’ll remember for the rest of your life. The Miseducation of Cameron Post is of course deservedly one of the latter.

By Pat Mullen

Dan Fogelman likes a good cry. He makes audiences weep every week with his hit TV series This is Us. Now he’s inspiring a collective ugly cry with the film Life Itself, which packs as many emotions into two hours as This is Us does in a season. There are so many feels in this ensemble drama that boasts an all-star cast of Oscar Isaac, Olivia Wilde, Annette Bening, Antonio Banderas, Olivia Cooke, and Laia Costa. The film is a puzzle about the mysteries of life and love that connect unexpectedly through fate and chance.

Fogelman, speaking with BeatRoute at the Toronto International Film Festival following the world premiere of Life Itself, says the pleasure of stepping back and observing daily life inspired his process. “We get so wrapped up in our singular individual lives that we can lose perspective of the bigger picture of what we’re all collectively doing together and how the world moves forward.”

Other inspiration for the film comes from the story of his late mother, as Life Itself draws from the sense of loss Fogelman experienced after her death.

“You get reflective of the bigger picture after those moments,” observes Fogelman. “After you have experienced a big loss, when things happen that are positive they cause you to go back, go forward, and ask how life makes sense and works together.”

Life Itself plays upon the puzzle pieces of our lives as the characters’ stories intersect. Fogelman’s script travels through different time periods as Will (Isaac) grapples with the loss of his wife, Abby (Wilde), and revisits highlights from their relationship with the help of his therapist (Bening). His memories don’t often fit together and the film centres around Abby’s grad school thesis in English literature that argues that the most unreliable narrator of all is life itself. Abby, like Fogelman, likes to look deeply at the relationship between emotions and art.

Fogelman admits it’s a risk to let people acknowledge their vulnerability. “I think the world is cynical now because the people with the biggest mouthpieces happen to be a little cynical,” says Fogelman, alluding to Trump. “There is a hunger for stories that make people feel connected. My television show, which is not for the cynical critic, is also something that people hungered for.”

The emotions keep on coming as Life Itself weaves through various love stories set to the tracks of Bob Dylan’s album Time Out of Mind. “What I love about music is how it can make you feel. There aren’t many art forms that can make you feel so instantly.”

The biggest feel of Life Itself comes via Dylan’s ballad “Make You Feel My Love,” which inspires the film’s Spain-set romance between Banderas and Costa. Fogelman says he recognized the song as the heart of Dylan’s album and found it provided the catharsis he sought for the film. “It was unflinchingly sad,” he says. The film mirrors Dylan’s choice to include a Spanish song within his album as the drama shifts from English to Spanish once Banderas and Costa take lead.

When it comes to scripting a two-hour film versus a story that spans episodes and seasons, Fogelman says each medium brings its own challenges. “In our television show, there’s a slow burn to the plots. Entire storylines can spread out over the course of a season and you have lots of beginnings and ends, so the moves are much smaller.” Compared to Life Itself, which ping-pongs between characters from one story to the next, and each action must relate to another.

“You’re getting a sense of their overall lives because of the key moments,” says Fogelman. “They’re in snapshots, but it’s all in service of the overall picture if you zoom out and see that big story from beginning to end.”

By Pat Mullen

“Twice I’ve worked with a female director,” says Natalie Portman, “and in one of those cases, the director was myself.”

The state of women’s representation in Hollywood receives a timely assessment in Tom Donohue’s documentary This Changes Everything. Portman’s statement on the dearth of female directors might inspire a gasp from the audience, as it audibly did during the film’s premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival. However, this fact is nothing new – it’s just been buried by Hollywood complacency as men occupy a disproportionate share of key creative positions and speaking roles in the movies.

This Changes Everything reiterates many of the talking points raised during the #MeToo and #TimesUp campaigns. The overwhelming star power of the film speaks to the urgency of the conversation, featuring a who’s who of women in Hollywood including Natalie Portman, Jessica Chastain, Taraji P. Henson, Sharon Stone, Chloë Grace Moretz, and the queen of acting herself, Meryl Streep. Donohue, who previously went behind Hollywood’s curtain in the doc Casting By, delivers a perfectly serviceable by-the-numbers talking heads piece that lays out the situation and offers a rallying cry for change.

Whatever the film lacks in revelations or finesse, it offers women a platform to join the discussion. The chief voice in the film belongs to Oscar winner Geena Davis, who discusses her experience changing the game for Hollywood with Thelma & Louise, and then changing it again a decade later with her research into women’s representation through the Geena Davis Institute.

Davis explains her research into the scarcity of representation for female actors and characters in children’s films. The results, released previously and much publicized in industry trades, reveal that Hollywood doesn’t consider little girls when they make movies for children. Representation matters, Davis argues, because seeing oneself reflected on-screen builds confidence and teaches kids what they can do with their lives. The film smartly cites the success of Patty Jenkins’ Wonder Woman and the legion of little girls it inspired as a Hollywood success story on the power of inclusion.

Davis also talks about how the hard data of her research gave quantifiable proof about industry-wide discrimination. However, various talking heads describe the failures of convincing the Directors Guild of America and major studio heads to be proactive throughout the years. The film finally finds a degree of focus as Donohue examines these case studies of women who took the industry to court to challenge discriminatory hiring practices.

But there’s also one odd underlying factor of This Changes Everything: it’s directed by a man. Donohue nevertheless performs admirably and approaches the topic through the lens of intersectional feminism, drawing diverse actors and directors into the conversation to highlight dynamics of race and sexuality that are also sidelined by boardrooms full of straight white dudes. Meryl Streep says late in the film that change will happen when men step up and lend their support. Maybe that’s irony of This Changes Everything: it took a man to make it, which reinforces just about everything said in the film.

by Noémie Attia

The Hate U Give brings forward to great audiences crucial aspects of African American contemporary issues and activism. Ones that have always been talked about since Emmett Till’s assassination by a white man in 1955, which sparked the Civil Rights Movements in the United States. More than half a century later, it is still “the same story, just a different name. ” An innocent black man murdered and made guilty for his own death by a systemic racism that gives impunity to his white assassin.

The filmic adaptation of eponym Angie Thomas’ novel revolves around the perspective of Starr Carter, who swings daily between two versions of her, illustrating perfectly Henry Louis Gates Jr.’s concept of “The Two Nations of Black America”. The young African American woman, played by Amandla Stenberg, lives in Garden Heights, a mostly black neighbourhood affected by gang violence, but which she considers home. She goes to a private high school in Williamson where the great majority of the students are upper class white teenager. To “break the cycle” inherent to her neighbourhood (but induced by centuries of oppression) she has to adopt the codes of the historically oppressive group, which makes it hard for Starr to stay in touch with her home and her personality.

When she witnesses the murder of her childhood friend, Khalil, by a white policeman who mistook a hairbrush for a gun, the tear in Starr’s personality grows even bigger. She has to interpret the events in both of her life contexts, where she risks a lot (her reputation, her life). But she also has to speak up and in the countrywide movement of Black Lives Matter. She is at a turning point of her life—the teenage years—which is very relevant, regarding a topic that encompasses many paradoxes and grey areas. George Tillman Jr. depicts Starr’s coming of age and her interpretation of Tupac Shakur’s “T.H.U.G. L.I.F.E.” (The Hate U Give Little Infants Fucks Everything).

Tillman’s work is necessary: it brings up racism as a systemic process that perpetuates hatred cycles and that considers blackness as a weapon (in Garden Heights) or as a pitiful condition (in Williamson). The film takes the form of a regular drama, close-ups and violins included, but instills a deeply needed content to the genre. Between raising urban issues, intersectionnality (race and class are considered), the importance of social movement and the questioning of retaliation, The Hate U Give makes very clear points on the sensitive and complex racial issue in the US, adopting the perspective of black people and making them fully-fledged agents of the narrative.

By Pat Mullen

1996-98 AccuSoft Inc.

If the world’s going to end soon, Gloria Bell (Julianne Moore) hopes to go out on the dance floor. Gloria loves to bust a move in the trendy clubs of Los Angeles as she looks for romance. The world’s not going to end if she’s dancing solo, though, and the funny, sad, and empowering Gloria Bell comes to a rousing climax as its leading lady kicks up her heels, embraces her age, and decides to own the dance floor like nobody’s watching.

Chilean director Sebastián Lelio remakes his 2013 art-house hit Gloria with Julianne Moore taking over the Paulina García role and doing justice to her predecessor. Gloria’s family is branching off as her kids create their own families, and there’s an emptiness to her life that the divorcée longs to fill. The film follows Gloria as she seeks a new partner during nightly prowls in LA clubs. One evening, as she surveys the crowd from behind a martini and her oversized hipster glasses, she sees a dashing man checking her out. A few drinks and a bump-and-grind later, and they’re a match. Arnold, played by Moore’s Big Lebowski co-star John Turturro, is recently divorced, but echoes Gloria’s desire to embrace the years she has left.

However, Gloria wants to move forward while Arnold clings to the past, despite the poetic, lovey things he says to get into Gloria’s pants. Their relationship sees humiliating ups and downs as Gloria realizes that Arnold is completely whipped by his ex-wife and their daughters. Mr. Right isn’t what he seems to be, and Gloria is just one step away from becoming a comfortable cat lady – and from realizing that there is nothing wrong with that, as noted by the hairless cat that intrudes upon her apartment, seeking her company night after night.

Gloria Bell, like the original, surprises, since romantic comedies (and films in general) rarely tell stories of mature women, let alone afford them leading roles. Gloria is the mom role transformed from a supporting character with a menopausal plotline into a leading lady whose mature soul and body anchors every frame of her own story. Comedy doesn’t tend to be Moore’s strength, yet she delivers a rich, lived-in performance of great humour by playing it straight in Gloria Bell. She taps into the heartfelt sadness of the character, drawing out Gloria’s loneliness and vulnerability.

Gloria Bell is a rare remake that surpasses the original. Little changes in the film, but Lelio is a more accomplished filmmaker now than he was in 2013. After last year’s Oscar-winning A Fantastic Woman and the forbidden love story Disobedience, Lelio has refined his craft. Gloria Bell also sees him working on a much larger canvas with the benefits of a Hollywood budget, and it allows him to improve upon a work that was already great to begin with. The vibrant colour palettes and hypnotic scores are all Lelio in his element, and he makes great use of the LA locations and pop songs that populate Gloria’s lonely days. Best of all, he finds the perfect dance partner in Moore to embrace Gloria’s young at heart vitality. Gloria Bell is a humorous and affectionate study of the road to self-love.